Isiah Thomas Calls for a Public Apology From Michael Jordan … Again

Time heals all wounds … except if you’re Isiah Thomas and Michael Jordan.

Despite it being well over three decades since the GOAT spat with the HOF point guard and his Bad Boy Pistons, the feud remains alive and well. Thomas recently appeared on an episode of All the Smoke with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson and continued to call out Jordan for his comments made on The Last Dance back in 2020.

During the 10-part mini-series on ESPN, Jordan was asked to re-live the moment Thomas and the Pistons refused to shake hands after the Bulls finally beat them during the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals. Produces then told His Airness they had an interview where Thomas explains the Pistons’ decision to walk off the court, which led Jordan to say, “you can show me anything you want. It’s no way you can convince me he wasn’t an a–hole.”

To this day, Thomas has yet to get over those words.

“You get on national television, and you call me an asshole,” Thomas said on All the Smoke. “And then you said you hated me. You said that on national television. Now, if you didn’t mean it, you get on national television and apologize for it. Now, if you meant it, let it ride as it is.” 

Thomas reiterated multiple times during the interview that – if Jordan were to apologize – he would accept nothing less than a public apology. He also went on to complain that he is now asked about their relationship in practically every single interview that he does.

Look, I’m sure it’s pretty annoying for people to relentlessly ask about something that happened so long ago But – I don’t know – maybe act like it a little more? Thomas went on this time to speak for 7 minutes about the situation. And this feels like the zillionth freakin’ time he’s talked at length about Jordan and has gone on to demand an apology. Maybe it’s just me, but that sure doesn’t sound like someone who’s all that fed up talking about it.

Thomas also reiterated several times that if Jordan doesn’t regret what he said, he should stand on it. Well, I think the fact that he hasn’t tried to apology (to our knowledge) suggests that … yeah … he means it, pal!

Anyway, you can catch Thomas’ full comments in the video here or below. At this rate, we’ll be 90 and listening to holograms of each player throwing shade at each other.

written by

Elias Schuster is the Lead Chicago Bulls writer at Bleacher Nation. He started with BN full-time in 2019 immediately after graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign with a degree in Journalism (yes, he started with the Jim Boylen Era). Since joining, Elias has been the driving force behind Bulls and NBA content for both the site and social accounts. You can follow him on Twitter/X @Schuster_Elias.

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